BUCYRUS - The new executive director of the Bucyrus Tourism and Visitor's Bureau said he's encouraged by the progress that has happened in Bucyrus.

Max Miller, 2006 graduate of Bucyrus High School, he said the downtown seems a lot more lively than it did when he was younger.

"We have things they like to do," he said of potential visitors. "We have activities for outside, we've got activities for foodies ... We've got golf, we've got bike trails. Hopefully this rec thing comes down the road.

"We've got a lot of assets, it's just about how do we highlight them."

Miller earned his bachelor’s degree in communication technology from The Ohio State University. After graduating, he joined the Peace Corps and served as a volunteer in Cameroon, Africa, working on community development for several years.

"While I was in Cameroon, we climbed Mount Cameroon, it's the highest point in West Africa. We did it with a Cameroonian hiking group and that was the first time I started thinking about recreation as a job and kind of providing these services for people," he said.

After he returned, he was able to get his master’s degree in recreation park and tourism administration from Western Illinois University. His tuition was waived as a part of the Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Fellowship.

"I had already done community development when I was Cameroon, but this is a more kind of focused, academic approach to it ... I really enjoyed the program," he said. "I realize we're all kind of in this rat race and we're running around, we're stressed all of the time and people think of leisure time and recreation as wasted time. You're not at an office, you're not doing work."

He said he realized community development and organizing is his passion. When the executive director job came open, he was hopeful to get it and to take his skills back home to Bucyrus.

"For me, I think there's a lot going on that maybe everyone just doesn't know about, or it's not publicized; it's not communicated well enough," he said. "From the tourism bureau aspect, I want to get the message not only to the locals, but to the visitors as well."

His goals for the position include better promotion, better connection and communication. The bureau, which is now located in the same office as the Crawford Partnership and the Bucyrus Area Chamber of Commerce, is also hoping to get the word out about what they can do.

"For the longest time, I never knew where our previous office was ... I drove past that building for the 18 years I lived here and never knew that's where the tourism office was," he said.

Miller said he's hoping to expand the reach of the bureau beyond just Bucyrus and to promote Crawford County as a whole. He's hoping to include popular attractions in other cities in Crawford County into the list of places to visit.

"I think there's maybe an of 'us vs. them' mentality sometimes with not just Bucyrus, Galion, New Washington. They think, 'Oh we have to put ourselves against each other to make sure we don't lose dollars.' So, I'm you know a more of a 'We all come up together,'" he said. "If you've got something going on we can promote that for you. If we've got something going on there, you can promote that for us."